Where SXSW Points Talent (WSJ)

Wall Street Journal ^ | MARCH 24, 2009 | By JIM FUSILLI

[a fool in paradise]

'The music industry isn't completely broken," ... Busdriver told me, "but it's on its way. I see some freedom in that."

"I've had some experience with major labels," said Emily Wells, who plays viola to hip-hop rhythms and orchestral sounds. "They want to know what you're doing all the time. They're nosy. Now I'm entirely self-motivated. I have creative control."

...artists are discovering is that, by managing their own affairs, they can control costs and make the music they want.

..."The reality of pop in our culture has changed," said Mark Mothersbaugh, a 35-year veteran of the music business best known as a member of Devo. "Now, instead of a monolithic list of important artists, you have a web of information. With the Internet, you can say, 'I want to hear French bistro death metal cha-cha' -- and there's somebody doing it. You may not find any of these people to be big icons like Mick Jagger, but you have a lot of people with interesting ideas."

...It was a buyer's market for the open-minded music lover...

...At that moment, not one of the gleeful spectators cared a whit about who does what in the music business in 2009.

At a panel at the convention center, E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt, promoting the ossified-geezer perspective, said rock needed to be saved, adding, "Over the past 30 years, I've been witness to a crisis of craft" in modern popular music. But Mark Mothersbaugh told me, "The ratio of good music to bad is about the same as 30 years ago."

Independent musicians seem to agree that chaos on the commercial side is rarely bad for a creative artist.

"The 2000s are the wilderness," said BLK JKS's Mr. Mcata. "There are no genres. There is nothing. It's exciting."

[a fool in paradise]

Ping

[lormand]

A coworker told me the other day about a band that played 80's music.

I asked him if they did that on purpose.

[a fool in paradise]

1880s?